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Iowa’s 122 tornadoes breaks record set 20 years ago
Iowa’s tornadoes in 2024 have killed six and injured 44, weather service says
Iowa’s tally of 122 confirmed tornadoes so far this year has eclipsed the previous record of 120 set two decades ago in 2004 — a new height driven in part by also having the highest number of EF-1 twisters ever on record.
A total of six people were killed by tornadoes during 2024 in Iowa — one in the April 26 EF-3 tornado that struck Minden in Pottawattamie County, and five when a May 21 EF-4 struck Greenfield in Adair County. Forty-four people in five twisters were injured this year.
This year’s count by the National Weather Service went through Saturday.
The four EF-3 and two EF-4 tornadoes that hit Iowa this year were the most in a single year since 1999, the weather service said. Iowa also saw a record number of EF-1 tornadoes — 39. Of the 122 total, 67 were rated EF0 — or between 65 and 85 mph wind gusts — or EFU, which stands for unknown.
Under the damage measurement scale, an EF-1 tornado has wind gusts of between 86 and 100 mph. An EF-3 has gusts between 136 and 165 mph, and an EF-4 has gusts of 166 to 200 mph. The strongest, rated EF-5, has gusts of over 200 mph.
Among other findings reported by the weather service:
- April and May saw more tornadoes than any other month this year, with 49 twisters each. But there have been other months in past years with higher totals, including the December record of 63 set in 2021.
- Other months in 2024 saw far fewer — 14 in June, four in July and six in August.
- The widest tornado this year was the one that struck Minden. Its path was about 1.1 miles wide at its widest point.
- The longest path this year was the Greenfield tornado, where it stayed on the ground and carved a 42.4-mile path.
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